First season with the new WRR...

Hello everyone from Loretto, Pennsylvania, USA! I just wanted to let everyone know that your opinions helped tremendously in finding the right bike for me. Especially ride reports from highfive and skierd, also videos and posts from kalani prince ! After a solid year and a half of research, some test rides (including WRR, DRZ, and the 690 Enduro), and my first 4000 miles on the new bike, I'm 100% absolutely convinced the WR250R is THAT bike for me.

My riding consists of a 44 mile round trip work commute (with over 3000' of elevation change appx. 3 times a week in the spring/summer/fall) and lots of trails (mostly rocky and muddy). The WRR has performed flawlessly in near-stock form. The only minor hiccup I've experienced so far was mud/grit crudding up the contacts in my starter button after taking a swim in a mud hole. 15 minutes, some fine grit sandpaper, and some electrical contact cleaner was all it took get her back up and hauling my a$$ around everywhere again (and it was my fault in the first place). My real 'epiphany' with the WRR, however, was during a 400 mile, 2 day, street/trail/dirt road loop from my place in central PA to north central PA and back. This trip included portions of Elk, Susquehannock, Tioga, and Sproul state forests via many excellent dirt forest service roads, some of which are used during the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally. Also, some double track trails in and around Lyman Run State Park, and some 2 lane paved roads. After a section of trail, I realized I hadn't once thought about the bike itself, but only the ride. I come from a background in which I've always had to work on things a lot in order to ride a little (old snowmobiles in particular). In 400 miles, I lubed the chain once, glanced at the oil and coolant levels, and rode. All while getting an average of nearly 70 mpg. My cousin, who bought his WRR a few weeks after I did, was along for the ride and experienced the same results. We plan on doing a similar trip in 2013, but with more dirt and the inclusion of a friend of mine on his new 500 EXC. I can't wait to see if his experience will be the same...


One of my favorite things about owning the WRR (and dualsporting in general I guess), is riding the hell out of the thing on trails, not getting a chance to wash it, and then riding it to work the next day and parking it right in the middle of the 'Harley Owner Parking Only' section when I get there. My least favorite thing about owning the WRR, is having to explain myself to 'Mr. why did you buy a 250?' No matter where I go, it seems there's always someone who just can't believe that I'm dumb enough to not only think about buying a 250 dualsport, but to actually buy one and ride it both to work most days and on trail rides with a bunch of 'Mr. Moto Racers'.

Only someone who has owned a WRR will ever understand that. Some other questions I've had to answer so far:

Q: "Is that thing even street legal?" A: Yes...
Q: "What's that bike want to be when it grows up?" A: You're mom...
Q: "Do you really ride that thing on the highway?!?" A: Here and back.
Q: "When are you going to buy a real bike?" A: Whenever you get your awesome Harley to stop running/sounding/smelling like a helicopter that's just run out of fuel and begining to fall to Earth.
Q: "Don't they make a 450?" A: Yes, but- oh, never mind I don't care...

Here's to many more miles!

glad to see you like your WRR! I love mine!

just out of curiosity, what made you choose the WRR over the 690 Enduro?

I've never ridden one, but I think it's a bike I'd like to own someday (along with the WRR of course, if I don't end up homeless on the streets this puppy is staying with me )

bigg wrote:

glad to see you like your WRR! I love mine!

just out of curiosity, what made you choose the WRR over the 690 Enduro?

I've never ridden one, but I think it's a bike I'd like to own someday (along with the WRR of course, if I don't end up homeless on the streets this puppy is staying with me )

There were basically 4 reasons why I chose the WRR:

1: Power. I know this seems counterintuitive, but hear me out. A friend of mine has a '10 690 Enduro R, which is the one I rode. I remembered reading somewhere (magazine) that the KTM 690 engine was probably the most powerful, production, single cylinder motorcycle engine in the world. True? Sure as hell seemed like it to me... For my experience level, it was WAY too much for riding off-road. I have nowhere near the throttle control I would need to ride that bike on the type of trails we have in central PA (rocky and technical).

2: Turning Radius/slow speed handling. That same magazine article I was reading said that the 690 has the turning radius of a semi. I don't have my CDL but there could be some truth to that. I felt like I could've gotten a Rhino sxs through tight stuff better. Again, with my level of experience and the aforementioned power thing, I pretty much wrecked for and hour straight, but never hit the ground.

3: Reliability. I've read about issues and my buddy has had many of them. They range from the gas tank/subframe always loosening up to random stalling issues (he thinks it's something electrical at this point) to the throttle body coming off at random (has happened at least 4 times while we were riding together). It's pretty crazy that the first thing he does when his bike has a catastrophic sounding backfiring/stalling fit, is get off and look to see if his throttle body is off again. All those issues are well documented in various forums. His bike is bone stock, except for a fancy KTM aluminum skid plate that rings like a gong.

4: Price. His was a leftover and he got it for right around $10,000. Frankly, more than I wanted to spend. I know I will spend money on the WRR to get it where I want it, but I'm not good enough to out-ride my bike as it is. I come from a mountain biking background where people spend thousands on a front fork that has more knobs than a space shuttle and they lack both the knowledge and the skills to make use of it. I'm sure the same thing happens among motorcyclists.

One caveat- those are just my thoughts.

Very well thought out rationale. Each of us has our reasons for choosing the WR2. Most of us also are questioned as to our choice of such a small displacement bike. I almost feel like saying the old "If I need to explain it to you, you would never understand". That used to be the biker response to those who questioned why we love this "dangerous" activity and I think it would be rather funny to say the same thing to another biker asking about the WR. I also rather like the BigDog response to the question. To the question of why did you buy a 250 cc bike he says something like "because I couldn't find a 175". Anyways, I digress.

Glad to see that you are enjoying the multi-faceted useage of the WR!

And welcome to the site!